Writ jurisdiction can be invoked where reassessment is completed...

Writ jurisdiction can be invoked where reassessment is completed without actual service of notice and without giving the taxpayer a hearing, because breach of audi alteram partem is a valid ground to bypass the alternative remedy objection. The Court accepted that notice sent to the PAN or passport address was not unlawful on the facts, but held the ex parte reassessment unsustainable since no effective opportunity of hearing was afforded. It quashed the assessment, demand, penalty and recovery proceedings, and permitted fresh proceedings after proper service, while barring the taxpayer from pleading limitation against the renewed notice.

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